Well, tomorrow night it is supposed to get down to about 5 degrees here so I think I am going to plug in the block heater so the '95 E300D is ready to purr when I have to go to work in the morning. I just installed the heater cord a couple of weeks ago, but haven't needed it until now. However, now that I am thinking about it, I was just wondering . . .

. . . how long do you leave your block heater plugged in for? Are there any recommendations for this, or are they designed to just heat to a specific temp and then hold steady? I am assuming that you can't really leave them plugged in for too long - unless you feel like wasting electricity.

Feel free to throw in any other block heater trivia you might have (i.e. what temp. they heat to at x degress, and so on).

Thanks!

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'95 E300D ("Tank") - 231,000 miles
'79 240D ("Biscuit") - 197,250 miles (Sold)
'83 240D ("Ding-Ding") - 217,000 miles (Death by deer)
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"Back off, man. I’m a scientist” ~ Peter Venkman

As long as it is plugged in, it will run. I bought a timer for mine. $9.99 at Lowes. I run it for a couple hours. I might run it for 3 hours if it is going to get down to 0. If you buy a timer, make sure it has the ground terminal and is heavy enough for the draw of the heater.

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1987 300TD 309, xxx 2.8.2014 10,000 mile OCI


Be careful of the toes you step on today, as they may be connected to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow. anonymous

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter won’t mind.” Dr. Seuss

They only need 2-3 hours to heat the engine. If it's going to get very cold and I need the car first thing in the morning, I just leave it plugged in overnight (cost is about $.50 for 8 hours). If you are going to use it often, a timer is probably worthwhile.

All you really need is a couple of hours. A timer is a great help. But plugging it in all night works too.

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2-3 hours is all you should need. Get a good timer and good out door extension cord, they draw a fair amount of juice.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

In Salt Lake this Christmas it was in the teens overnight. I had the block heater in our '96 E300D on a timer, as well as a trickle charger on the battery, set to come on about 4 hours before I thought I would need the car. Even with one bad glow plug, the engine started immediately and idled smoothly after only about ten seconds of preglow.

According to my ScanGauge, the coolant temp was 100-110F immediately upon starting, which also meant we had heat in the car very soon. For those of us who are no longer as tolerant of the cold as we used to be, that was very nice.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Aren`t these things something like 4 or 500 watt?

When I use mine, I just plug in and go to bed.

Depends how you want it, medium rare or well done.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Many run around 1200-1500 watts and will have the watts printed on the box and stamped into the heater housing. I just leave mine plugged in each night and don't worry about it. It's a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of heating your house, overworking your starter, taking a hot shower etc. Another thing I prefer to do with my lil buggy is to leave the heater setting to the straight defrost so the warm air coming through the entire coolant system helps to keep the windshield defrosted. On a side note, when I fire up regardless of the outside temp, my coolant level is always around 110-125 so when I first fire it up...I've got warm air immediately. As to keeping your windshield clean...plug it in overnight when you've got a heavy snow coming down...your windshield will barely covered with a bit of wet snow and your hood will be nearly completely clean Enjoy the winter,

Jim

another thing you can do is put a 15 watt light bulb into the car interior and let it burn all nite. It's not too much elect to burn, but will keep the car quite warm all nite. More wattage will make it warmer. May also keep the neighbors awake. BTW, yes you have to plug the bulb in and turn it on.

I measure the resistance in mine an calculated something like 450W with it cold. I expect it goes down a little as the element heats up.

Where do you all get your block heaters from? Brand?

Thanks

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'98 E300 turbodiesel

On my '82, it was a dealership install, back in '82. I have no idea what brand it is.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Mine came with the car, installed from the factory. No idea.

I let it run overnight when I use it.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

Is there a way to put a heater on my oil pan?

I bought one and it won't stick to my aluminum pan

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Dave

1985 190D 2.2 auto--gone
1975 240D 4-speed--storage
1985 500SEL--daily driver
1985 300TD--bad rust, soon to part out...
1982 300SD--waiting on engine from RD
1984 190E--storage
1996 Dodge 2500 Cummins--daily driver

tractor supply has a 90Watt dipstick tube heater...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!